


Predictable, Really

by Sybel Sayrah (rocknlobster)



Category: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo
Genre: Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-20
Updated: 2007-12-20
Packaged: 2018-01-25 04:08:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1630733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rocknlobster/pseuds/Sybel%20Sayrah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Franz, Albert, and Eugenie before the trip to Luna.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Predictable, Really

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Bangles for beta-ing. <3
> 
> Written for Elektra3

"Do you ever wonder what we'll be like in the future?" Albert asked suddenly.

Franz blinked, brought his eyes back into focus. He turned to look at Albert's silhouette, sitting next to him on the floor. "Sorry?"

Franz could practically hear Albert roll his eyes at the dark ceiling. "Do you wonder what we'll be like, the way our lives will be, in the future?"

Franz tilted his head against the wall behind them in contemplation...or perhaps just exhaustion. "It is far too early in the morning for a conversation requiring actual thought." Vague pictures of Albert in ridiculous, oversized adult uniforms drifted nonsensically through his mind.

"Oh, don't be like that. Come on, I want to know what you think." Now Albert shifted, turning to look at Franz. Reluctance warred with amusement in Franz's thoughts, until finally he laughed.

"Well, I know you won't be a general. Sometimes I wonder if Eugenie wouldn't make a better general than you. Although--" and he laughed again, "you'd probably make a worse banker than a general, so..." Franz noticed Albert leaning toward him slightly, and checked himself. "I know, I know, we--"

"I don't see you becoming a judge anytime soon either," Albert interrupted shrewdly. "So much for life by imitation, am I right? But seriously." He sat back, and Franz didn't need lights to see his customary (practiced?) look of curiosity and innocent pleading.

Franz blinked again, his mind starting to work despite his former protest. That's what I like about Albert, he thought, amused. No matter how predictable he is, there's always something a little deeper that pops up once in a while. Before Franz could decide how to answer his question, though, Albert giggled.

"You know, maybe you _should_ consider a goatee like Villefort. I'm sure it would, uh, suit your, heh, face." Albert dissolved into snorts and laughter. Franz rolled his eyes.

"Well, imagining you with your father's beard is fairly painful, I must say," he shot back, mouth twitching.

"Hey, you said you wouldn't bring that up!" Albert exclaimed indignantly. "It'll...get there...eventually." His shoulders hunched. Franz barely suppressed his laughter.

"Of course it will." He clapped his hand on Albert's shoulder and lurched to his feet. "Hey, what time is it? Shouldn't we be making sure everything's ready? So much for sleep, I guess."

Albert's retort--quite probably invoking Franz's predictability when it came to such concerns--was cut short by a rap on the door.

They looked at each other with the unspoken question, who? Albert called, "Come in," and grabbed Franz's hand to unceremoniously drag himself off the floor as the door opened.

Both boys squinted against the light coming in from the hall. "Eugenie? What are you doing here?" Albert asked as he covered his face with his hands.

"Time to get up!" She strode quickly across the room, flinging aside the heavy curtains to let sunlight flood the room and blind them before they became accustomed to the hall lights. She rolled her eyes at their pitiful groans. "I had a feeling this would be the result when Albert invited you over on the night before a big trip. So predictable!"

"Hey! Eugenie! What?!" Wincing from the brightness, Franz's reaction shifted between pain and faint panic. It shouldn't have been that bright outside if it was not yet dawn. Thus, it must be past dawn. Thus, they must be late. Panic won.

"Albert, come on! Did you finish putting your stuff together last night like I told you to? We can't miss the transport; another one won't leave for another six hours, and we'll miss the ship, and--"

Albert dragged his luggage from the other side of his bed, and picked up a jacket thrown onto the bed. "Oh, I did that before you got here yesterday," he interrupted blithely, tossing Eugenie what was supposed to be a sly wink. "Do try to keep up, Franz."

Franz squinted at Eugenie and Albert. "I--"

Eugenie laughed. "Now, now! We wouldn't want to ruin Albert's first trip to Luna with constant worrying, right?" she asked glibly.

"That's why we're _going_ , isn't it? To have fun!" Albert tried to pretend to whine at Franz, but tripped over his own excitement.

Franz and Eugenie smiled at each other over Albert's shoulder. His enthusiasm, as always, was infectious. Then Franz's expression reverted back to mild panic.

"Come on, we're going to be late!" Franz grabbed a few of Albert's bags and started toward the downstairs parlor, where his own luggage waited.

"Hey Franz, do you think we have time to get something to eat?" asked Albert piteously, as his stomach growled loudly.

Eugenie started. "Oh, I almost forgot; I brought sandwiches." She pulled two packages out of a bag she had left downstairs by Franz's belongings.

"Oh thank goodness!" Albert exclaimed, and consumed the entire sandwich in about ten seconds, to Franz and Eugenie's vast amusement.

"Eugenie, Albert was asking before what we'll be like when we're older," Franz said, suddenly looking serious. "What do you think he should be: a banker, or a general? Personally, I think the military uniform might look better on him than--" Franz choked as Albert casually flung his jacket into his face.

Eugenie helped Franz untangle the jacket buttons from his hair. "I almost feel sorry for the residents of Luna, sending the two of you without an armed escort. Try not to get in trouble...Albert!" Eugenie redirected the focus of words at the last minute, to Albert's chagrin.

"Hey!" Albert objected feebly, as his two friends laughed.

"Seriously, though," Eugenie said. "Stay out of trouble!"

Her sudden moment of concern and her unplanned appearance reminded them all of warm, fuzzy childhood friendships, and the nostalgia took them all a little by surprise. There was a pause.

Albert shifted his feet after a few moments. "Well, I guess we really should be going! We'll be back before you know it, Eugenie!"

"Sadly, yes," she replied dryly.

Franz smirked inwardly at Albert's resulting expression. Despite his questions about the future, they all managed to forget their looming adulthoods for a moment, there. And that, of course, made Franz think. What _would_ things be like?

In the end, of course, such thoughts were here and gone, drifting on solar winds. The important thing was the moment, after all. And truly, nothing too crazy could possibly happen now. Their lives might change, they might get old, but that would be a long time in the future. Tomorrow would probably be the same as today, and the day after much like the one before...whether on Luna or not, some things just stayed the same.

Pity, really.


End file.
